PROVO — With the Cal game approaching, the question for BYU football is how much has this team really improved during its three-game winning streak?

While it’s always nice to get a W, none of the three teams BYU beat pose a similar challenge to Cal. Here are three facets to pay particular attention to during the game to see how much the Cougars have improved since their four-game nose-dive.

Pass defense

During BYU’s four-game losing streak, there are numerous adjectives to describe the team’s pass defense; atrocious, pathetic, sorry and pitiful all come to mind. The problems were seen even before the losing streak as both Virginia and Houston threw for over 300 yards on the Cougar secondary. During the four-game slump, the team gave up an average of 335 passing yards per game. As such, it should be of little surprise that the team was giving up a whopping 41 points per contest.

Contrastingly, during the team’s recent three-game winning streak, it has allowed a stingy 121 passing yards a game. With the vast improvement in pass defense came a robust drop in points per game with the average points allowed falling all the way down to 10 points a contest. But make no bones about it, none of BYU’s competition in the last three wins (or even their four losses) have a passing attack that compares to Cal. Cal will enter the game as the fifth-best passing team in the nation. If the Cougars are to pull out a victory in Berkeley, they will need their secondary to be at their best.

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Pressure on the quarterback

While players in the secondary got burned repeatedly during the four-game losing streak, some of the blame for the Cougars' ineffectiveness against the pass falls on the lack of a consistent pass rush. During the four-game skid, BYU was only registering 1.5 sacks per game. Opposing quarterbacks were getting enough time to throw deep downfield on double moves due to the lack of any pressure from defensive linemen and linebackers. During the three-game win streak, Cougar rushers have gotten to the quarterback an average of three times a game. Being able to get the quarterback has significantly helped the much-maligned secondary. The Cougars will need to get in the face early and often against Cal quarterback Jared Goff to disrupt his timing with his receivers. If Goff (who enters the game having thrown for 3,580 yards and 31 touchdowns) has time to plant and throw, it will be a long game for the Y.

Game management

Other than the disaster in Boise, the Cougars were competitive during their four-game losing streak. In two of the games, BYU even led by two touchdowns but was unable to shut the door. The reasons why include lack of leadership and overly conservative play-calling with a lead. Cougar coaches and players will have to manage the game better if they want to beat Cal. Especially look for how BYU responds if it gets an early lead.

My prediction: BYU 42, Cal 35

Be sure to listen to my co-host, David Watkins, and I as we talk about the Cal game and other BYU sports topics on our podcast “Cougar Talk.” You can find the podcast on iTunes or at podbean.com.

Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via twitter @DylanCannon11.

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